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Thursday, January 28, 2016

Good morning again dreamer friends! Two posts in one week, whew, look out!

Yesterdays post was mostly all about letting go with a few sneak peeks at my latest embroidery adventures. I am sure some of you who have followed over the years were not surprised to see such long windedness though. Don't worry, it's not going to be a habit here at the Decorative Dreamer, but if you know me you do know I can go on a bit from time to time. No worries here, it was closure and we are moving on! Life is good!

Todays post is definitely back to norm sharing pretties and such. These flowers are just a few oldies that I have hung onto forever and day and never put in a display. I pulled them out at Christmas and have kept them out for Valentines too. I am thinking they may not make it back to storage. I may have to donate them to someone who will appreciate them more then I. However, they will get their show of a little love for the season.

Yesterday I finished up the plaque I was working on and wanted to share it with you today.

As I showed in yesterdays post this is the beginning stages. I first embroidered the word LOVE using a font that I purchased for my machine I like the swirly look to all the capital letters of this font.

When I stitched it out it puckered a bit because I guess I didn't have quite the right stabilizer. I'm still in a learning curve so give me a break on that okay? Okay!

I found an old piece of wood in our garage where I keep my husbands scraps and spray painted it red. I used Krylon Cherry Red. I love how deep the color is.

Then after cutting out the word, I added a little modge podge to the underside of the fabric and the edges. I even tried to give them a frayed edge look but it was kinda hard to get this fabric to fray. I was definitely going for a more rustic homemade look.

I already had the black and white jute, flowers and floating glitter hearts on hand as well. All it needed was a little glue from the glue gun and I was done. Sew simple, and sew sweet! Those are terms I am picking up from my embroidery group.

I still haven't really gotten into full on Valentines decorating yet. Have you? I am getting there a little bit at a time.

I am taking my time with pulling it all out so I can think on it more. You know dreaming a bit!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Sorry folks, just having a little fun this morning and sharing some very common phrases or comments you might hear when mentioning snow in our state. The weathermen are saying there are parts of SC that might get a little snow but I do think it is going to be further north then where I am. Snow in SC is such a rare thing that we all have quite the strange love hate relationship with it. I think for the most part we love it temporarily at best. We love short lived storms with very little ice where people can get out and play for a day or two and then it's life back to normal. Right???

Gurrrl, you know it's true! One of our most favorite things to do in the snow is make snow angels. I often wonder if its more of a southern thing or do they enjoy doing this up north too? When ever there is snow my Facebook is lit up with pictures of snow angels. It's not uncommon to hear people say, we had so much snow we able to make snow angels! Wow, now that's a lot of snow! LOL!

Now friends our winter has been so tame this year I wasn't going to do a winter mantle. I just wasn't going to do it. Honestly, I wasn't, noooo, not me, scouts honor! In fact just thinking about it seemed so ridiculous to me because our winter has been so very warm this year. But then I got to looking at blogs on the internet and oouuing and ahhing and such. Then the weatherman was on TV (every hour) suggesting that we may be getting some flurries, this weekend, maybe. You know where this is going right? Yep, one thing led to another!

I'm not exactly sure how it all came to be, but somehow I remembered these pretty little metal angel wings I purchased a few weeks ago from Hobby Lobby. I guess my little old pea brain just put two and two together and decided I wanted to make a snow angel even if we didn't get any snow. So I did!

I realize some of you might find this quite comical, but honestly, I love it!

I bought these wings because eventually I want to hang them in my bedroom. But first, I want to attach them to some wooden boards. I haven't had the time to finish up that project yet so they were still sitting in the bag on the dining room table collecting dust. But not anymore!

Love, love, love this!

I am even sitting here now just adoring these beautiful wings with a great big old smile on my face.

After remembering the wings, I went and found the one small little bag I had of a few things I have collected for winter decorating. I felt like the little white star wire garland was perfect for making wisps of clouds around the wings. Maybe it's just my imagination in overdrive, but it's just so magical for me! I can see it! Do you see it too? No? Here, take another look!

Oh, now you do, that's better now, right?

Next I added just a few snowflakes here and there because it's all I had on hand in my little winter bag. I suppose I could have gone out and bought more but remember I really wasn't decorating for winter this year. Nooooo siree! Not meee!!!

I then scattered a few snow balls here and there and I was done. The cute little white sparkly styrofoam balls and white sequined balls were all purchased a few years ago at Michaels after Christmas sale. I've used them once before. They were all sitting there in my little winter bag too. Sooo, I guess it's a good thing I CHANGED my mind.

There's that word again. My word for the year, CHANGE. It just keeps poppin up over and over again. I think it's going to be a great year!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I really do appreciate your visits. If you live further up north where the snow storms are please be safe, I'll be praying for you. I hope you all stay warm and if you get a chance to get outside and play, maybe you could make a few snow angels.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Hi Friends! Did you think I disappeared again? Naw! I've just been really busy jumping back and forth from project to project around here. I am sure several of you know how that goes, right? I am reminded of an old friend who's family used to refer to her as popcorn because you she jumped around from subject to subject constantly and you never knew what was going to pop out of her mouth next. LOL! True story and seriously how it's been with me and all that I've been juggling around the house. In addition to reorganizing cabinets, bookshelves, painting, refinishing, and reorganizing my sewing and craft room,learning to embroider, I've also been taking time to ponder on some of my wall spaces.

I've been scoping out blogs and google for images on wall groupings. I like a lot of what I've seen in regards to Charles Faudree but in some respects I also tend to lean towards a cleaner less cluttered look.. I feel like a lot of what I've been looking at and reading has been the most helpful in helping me to determine "what" to put on the walls. So with all of that in mind, I've added a few items here and there.

Let's start in the den...Here's how the wall above the mantle in the Living room looked last summer.

I had actually decided and already purchased what I wanted to add here a few years ago. But for some reason I held back. I think it was because maybe the rest of the room had not evolved enough yet for me to feel comfortable adding what I had in mind for this space.

Here's what I had in mind for this wall, it's plates of course! Not just any old plates either, but beautiful sea blue and green Mediterranean style plates.

I cannot believe I waited so long to add these. I am so glad I finally did though, what a difference. They really add just the right amount of color and definition to the space.

Now for the other side of the room, my nautical corner. This is how it looked last summer.

And this is how it looks now. I've always had this picture with the blue matting of the lighthouse on the wall here above the lantern. I did move it over towards the corner just a bit more.

The main difference now is that I added the photograph of the lighthouse to the wall as well instead of having it here in front of the lantern. I loved moving that picture on the wall because now it gave me space to bring in another favorite photo of mine of a sailboat from a Charleston artist.

One of the things I like most that I learned about doing wall groupings was to focus on a theme or something of that sort, especially when using pictures.

Lastly, let's take a look at one more area that got a new wall grouping update. This is the foyer last Easter. This photo was taken before it got the new paint job shortly after.

And here's the foyer now! Not only did I switch out the lamps yet again, but I added another set of mirrors.

I already had these mirror and they were just sitting upstairs in my craft room unused because I didn't like them where I originally had them. I had even been frustrated every time I saw them sitting there because I couldn't find the exact spot to use them. I had been focusing on using them as single accent pieces somewhere. Not as part of a whole group.

I love them as part of this grouping. I am still tweaking the rest of the foyer décor, but it will get there. I'm holding out for Valentines décor for this space.

I hope you enjoyed this post and can see how sometimes adding groups of things can totally update the look. I am well pleased with my choices and am enjoying them without feeling like I cluttered things up too much. Thank you all for sharing your wall groupings because it really helped me to be able to focus on my choices as well.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Good Morning friends! Feeling so happy to be able to share a few of my thrifty finds today with pictures from my camera. Until today, I have been using the IPhone to download pictures and blog off of my chromebook. Without getting into all the complicated issues with that, let's just say, what a pain!

I popped into one of my favorite thrift stores a few weekends ago and scored big time! First item up for sharing is this beautiful mahogany colored bookshelf. It has nary a scratch or nick on it and has beautiful trim with molding. It was only $5.00 too, what a deal right? Wellllll, it's missing it's shelves with the exception of the built in one in the middle. Strangely enough it still has several pins in place for where the adjustable shelves were. I was still thrilled because I just happened to be in Lowes the other day and saw they had laminated shelves in this color. I knew the price on those and when I added in the cost of the bookshelves I was still thrilled. Should be an easy fix, if not we'll just have to buy some wood and stain them.

I don't know about you but bookshelves are a premium in my house. I've been scarfing them all up for my craft/sewing room. I was thrilled to find this one to put in our upstairs foyer between the bedrooms. I already had a white one in this same exact spot until I took it for the craft room. The dark colored wood fits the rest of the pieces in this small space so much better. Please excuse the mess on the sofa, this room is still a work in progress. It's such a tight space and I've wrestled with how to make it useful for so many years. Now, I finally have a plan. It's going to be a reading, game and TV nook for family and guests. We are planning to add a flat screen here where the mirror is above the small built in below. That space was originally intended for a TV when the house was built and is cable ready so wiring this wall is going to be a snap. We just have to recoup from Christmas and then we can look for the right sized TV, so that's the plan anyway! Love when a plan comes together, don't you?

Okey dokey, next up is a little something I have wanted forever! It's one of those things I've never wanted to buy because it's like something I knew the Mr. could make. Butttttt, it's one of those things that's never been high on my priority list to beg him to make. I said beg, because it looks like it might be kinda annoying to make. Maybe not so annoying for some of you handy dandys, but the Mr. stress's over stuff like this. All those holes would have driven him cray cray. LOL! So without dragging this out and teasing ya anymore, anyone know what this is?

That's right! It's a casserole carrier. It's what helps keep the casserole dish from sliding all over the back trunk of the car when your off to Grandmas house or wherever you need to take a dish. It still needs some pegs but cutting a dowel is low stress compared to drilling all those holes in precision. Don't you think? I am going to change out the handles to some fancier ones I already have and repaint it. I promise I will reshare when that little project is finished. We got this!

Lastly, this little find was quite the treasure and quite the deal! In fact it was such a good deal, I'm not even going to give you the exact number but I will say it was a single digit amount. I don't want to say how low it was outloud because well, they are still quite in demand.

Do you know what this is? Right again! It's a Pampered Chef deep covered Baker. I just love their stoneware and have a few other stoneware pieces but not this one. I have wanted one of these for awhile now. But once again, I'm a thrifty kind of a gal and not real big on cooking so again it's not one of those items I really wanted to spend money on. Just as the bookshelves, this bargain find does not have one scratch or nix on it. In fact its what I would call pristine condition. Judging from how beautifully it cleaned up it almost looks like it was never used. It was actually dirtier on the outside then on the inside when I got it. I was so excited I even called my local Pampered Chef rep about the proper way to thoroughly deep clean it. I didn't want to mess it up but wanted to make sure it's been cleaned very well because I'm funny about stuff like that. She said I only needed to use baking soda and then to cook a whole chicken for it's first seasoning. Still haven't made the chicken yet, but hey, I got the bakeware!

Since I'm starting to get back into blogging a little more, I am going to share this post at a few parties today. I thought it would also be a great way to let some of you know I'm back to blogging some again. It would be so nice to hear from a few of my old blog friends if your still around. You can follow the links below to see more posts and pretties at;

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Hi Friends! I hope your week has been going well. Mine sure has! I've been so busy around the house getting things organized and ready for the new year ahead. I have such a wonderful feeling about 2016 and feel so very grateful to be able to be home, organizing, cleaning, and creating comfort.

The other day, the sun was shining so brightly in the morning I just had to snap a few shots. Still snapping photos on my phone for now, but I'm much closer to resolving that and hope to return to my camera soon.

It turned out to be a beautifully sunny but cold afternoon. It was the kind of day where everything just seemed so right in the world. Maybe, it started out that way for me because I felt so cozy and comfortable inside before setting out and about to brave the cold outside.

In my previous posts, I've been sharing with you how I've been making a few changes in the kitchen. One of the biggest changes I made was to add curtains on the french doors. Last weekend we got the curtain rods up and I hung the panels that I had made for the dining room a few years ago. I had to make a few easy length adjustments and they were done. I love the look of these so very much, I may not even worry about making any others with the darker fabric I have.

I really haven't tried too hard to create a wintry scene in here but I did want to have the centerpiece on the table reflect the season. These whispery white flowers I purchased a few years ago from Kirklands always make me feel so good. They are such a great transitional look and remind me so much of paper whites. Don't you think so? I added in some plain willow branches to give my centerpiece a more wintry look and I was done. I already had both the flowers and the branches. It really could not have been an easier.

These are the hurricane lamps I purchased last fall on sale at Pier 1. I think they will certainly be a new staple for me in my decor. You may recall I used them in my centerpiece on the coffee table at Christmas. You can see that here, if you missed it. Since I already had the snow filler inside them I decided to leave it. I did switch out the size of the candles to a smaller set.

I love how the snow sparkles from the reflections of the sunshine. I wish you had better pictures to see just how pretty it really is. These candles are electric. If you are like me then you have these candles everywhere. I think I may be addicted to them. It's a good day when I find these on sale. LOL!

I really am loving having curtains in the kitchen now. It has just made my kitchen so much more appealing. It's made the whole room more cozy, comfortable and inviting. I am just so amazed that I have gone so many years without even considering them. Of course, the Mr. has pointed out over and over again already how he has wanted to put curtains in here since day 1. He has wanted them to help keep the sun out during our hot, hot summers. I don't enjoy closed curtains and I especially don't like feeling too closed in. I think I'll be safe because when I made these I didn't use lots of fabric. I only made them just large enough to give a somewhat full look but not large enough to cover these doors certainly. We shall see what the summer brings, but for now the winter is feeling very cozy so far!

We're still working on more changes in here, slowly. We getting it done though, just in between getting more organized and learning how to use my new embroidery machine. In between, working on our sailboat and finding some time for thrift sale shopping. Finally and most importantly getting it done in between taking care of my family and my pretty little pup too!

Life is Good and God is Great, feeling so very thankful for all this winters comforts.

Thank you also for stopping in again and I hope you'll come back by and catch up again next time.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Have you seen those little, "what's your" this or that type quizzes on Facebook? I know you have, right? I'll be honest here, I get suckered into them every time. Usually when a friend of mine shares one, it's a good one too and I just have to play along. I just love those crazy test things!

Here's the one I did on New Years Eve. It's called, "What's is your word for 2016". I just clicked on the link, put in my name, and this is what popped up. This one is so absolutely amazingly accurate in my life right now I can't even begin to express how surprised I was to see it.

In fact what is said was; Your word for 2016 is Change. Your next year will be founded on change. New challenges will bring you much happiness.

I am sure I don't need to tell you that change is not always all it's cracked up to be. I won't go into all the reasons why change can be so hard or else you'd be here all day. But what I do want to share with you is that for the most part change is a pretty simple thing when you learn to embrace it.

Sometimes in life, situations change rapidly. This is often the hardest to deal with. Sometimes they change very slowly and adjusting is easier. Sometimes you see changes happening and you try to adjust but you can't. That's when you know you need to readjust your sails again. For me change this year is a very personal journey as I learn to be at home again after leaving a job I loved. I won't go into all of that but I will say that I am glad I have learned life long lessons that teach me how to embrace changes, sudden and planned. Change is not fearful for me in fact it's what keeps things interesting don't you think? It is after all a very inevitable part of life.

In my last post I shared with you my inspiration on making some changes in my kitchen. Well let's just say, in my usual style I jumped right in head first. I went out and found a few more things to start making changes on my own before the Mr. was available to help me with a few others.

Here is the area above my kitchen stove. In my head I thought my inspiration piece would look lovely here with a unique shelf and few other items. Before I took this picture I even had a few beautiful turquoise dishes on each side of this vignette. I took those down because it was too much.

When you are standing up close this vignette looks quite lovely. I just adore this shelf I found at Hobby Lobby too. It has hooks to hang things from as well. I even hung a few things on the hooks like measuring spoons and cups, etc.

I then went a few steps further and started moving other areas in the kitchen all around. This desk used to be set up as my Kuerig station. I thought I might like to use it as desk so I cleared it off and then added back a few items I really need to find a home for. My smoothie proteins because I really need to get back on that diet now that the holidays are over were slim enough not to take up too much space here....but looks kinda oddly out of place.

The Kuerig and K cups ended up over on this space with my Crockpot and wine glasses. Very pretty huh? Well.....be honest.

I stood back took a long look at everything I had done and decided to call it a night. Sometimes you need to sleep on it. So sleep I did. Then this morning I got up and got busy even before the first pot of coffee was made.

The first thing to CHANGE was this little vignette above the stove. I had great concerns over this shelf catching on fire. I have a gas top stove and though cooking wasn't really a problem last night I just really didn't want to take that chance. Furthermore, the more I looked at this space it just looked too cluttered to me. I want to put up open shelves above a little table near this area on the same wall and I feel like it will be even more cluttered looking after they are installed. Try as I may to find a new home for my really cool shelf I think it will be returned. It's just not working out. So not all changes are good. Sudden changes are hard and better handled very slowly.

Ahhhh!!!! That feels so much better!

I moved my old picture back above the stove where it has been since the day we moved into this house 13 years ago. It may not be the best picture ever, but I painted it myself. It has a vision I like to see everyday, every morning. My eyes rest on it easily and then move on. They don't get stuck there trying to figure out what is wrong with this picture. I have to move on. Being stuck with something when you know it's not right is the way I want to live, in fact it's unacceptable. Maybe one day I will replace this picture with another but for now it's staying. As for the changes in the rest of the room. Some will happen, some will move back again.

I'm making changes here for sure, but slowing it down a bit, to make sure these challenges bring much happiness.